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Magnus on 17 September 2015
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zorg1000 said:
Magnus said:
zorg1000 said:
Magnus said:
If Nintendo doesn't release a competitive console they are done.


If Nintendo releases a console with the intention of competing head on with Sony/Microsoft they are done. What will cause owners of Playstation/Xbox to jump ship to Nintendo? Ports of games that are on the competitors consoles as well? That certainly won't do.

Nintendo has lots of IP, but they also need new IP that appeals to hardcore gamers, the only ones who are and will buy videogame consoles.  Their first-party studios and the quality of the games they put out is the only advantage they have against Sony and Microsoft, and the only one they can use.

There is no room for complementary consoles, or as I prefer to call them, bastard consoles. Just look at the failures of Ouya, Nvidia SHIELD and Playstation TV. People who buy household consoles are people who want the latest AAA games with good graphics and little hassle. They don't want a system that is way inferior graphically to the competition even if it's significantly cheaper. If they want to stay in the hardware business, they need hardware on the same ballpark as the next Sony/Microsoft consoles, there is no market for weaksauce consoles regardless of price. And if the rumors of an Android-based console are correct, the NX will be a bastard console like the Ouya.

Ouya, Shield & PS TV are awful comparisons. One is a crowdfunded device with no marketing or retail presence that plays nothing more than Android games (Ouya), one is a device with a main selling point of being able to play ports of games on nearly decade old consoles (Shield) and the other is a redesigned version of a device that had already failed (PS TV). All awful examples and devices that were destined to be very niche.

U didn't answer any of the questions I asked, how is Nintendo going to win over the fans of games like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Elder Scrolls, Destiny, Madden, FIFA, etc? We see Sony/Microsoft spend a ton of money on things like exclusive advertising/bundles/DLC and sometimes even timed exclusives, is Nintendo willing or even able to compete with them on that front? People won't jump ship to Nintendo simply because they now have ports of games that the others have as well. There has to either be a huge selling point for people to choose Nintendo or the others need to make big mistakes.

Ouya, Shield and PS TV are actually pretty good comparisons. They are all consoles that attempted to be a cheap alternative to Sony/Microsoft consoles, very weak graphically, zero third party support, and they all failed. And if Nintendo's next console is less powerful than a PS4 it will be on the same league as those niche consoles nobody buys, even with all of their exclusives.

Nintendo needs to make new IPs to appeal to more mature consumers then try to get third parties like Assasins Creed, FIFA, Madden, Call of Duty, etc. at all costs, even if they have to bleed money for a decade. Virtually all AAA gaming is the same third party games, consoles are destined to be little more than generic boxes with a certain spec with a small number of exclusives on each console. That's all the console business is and will be and if Nintendo wants to survive they have to play that game. The Nintendo approach of being different to avoid commoditization has failed and will fail inevitably as the market no longer allows significant innovation.